1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a printer controlling device that is configured to transmit image data to a printer, and more particularly, to a printer controlling device capable of transmitting image data in a collate mode, in which print data indicative of a plurality of pages of a document a plurality of times.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, it is known that, for printing a plurality of copies of a document including a plurality of pages with a printer, a collate mode and an uncollate mode can be selectively used. In the collate mode, a plurality copies are created on document basis, while in the uncollate mode, the plurality of copies are created on page basis. For example, when 10 copies of a document including 3 pages are printed in the collate mode, one copy of first page, second page and third page of the document is printed in this order, which is repeated 10 times. In contrast, when 10 copies of the document are printed in the uncollate mode, 10 copies of the first page are printed, and then 10 copies of the second page, and 10 copies of the third page are printed in this order. It should be noted that some printers are operable both in collate mode and uncollate mode, while there also are printers which do not have the collate mode.
For the printers which do not have the collate mode, the print data of one copy of a document should be repeatedly (i.e., the desired number of times) transmitted to the printer so that the desired number of copies of the document are printed, thereby the collate mode operation is realized. An example of such a system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. P2001-341357A (hereinafter, referred to as '375 publication).
According to the technique described in '375 publication, however, if the print data is transmitted from the personal computer to the printer in the following condition, a problem arises. That is, if the print data representing one page of document is transmitted with the collate mode setting of the personal computer, the print data is repeatedly transmitted from the personal computer to the printer. Since the document includes only one page, the desired number of copies can be obtained either in collate mode or uncollate mode. If the print data is transmitted in the uncollate mode, an operation time for creating the desired number of copies of the document can be obtained quicker in comparison with a case where the collate mode is set.